Michigan basketball hires Dusty May as new head coach
Michigan basketball got its man, and it’s Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May. May will replace Juwan Howard at U-M immediately after leading FAU to the Final Four a year ago and the NCAA Tournament this year, where the Owls lost a heartbreaker to Northwestern in overtime.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski, “May became swept away with the alumni network and its fierce loyalty to the university and athletics, sources said. His belief is that that will help transcend some of the inherently transactional nature of the modern NIL/transfer portal era in recruiting and player retention.”
Many believed May was Louisville-bound, but sources informed TheWolverine.com today athletic director Warde Manuel and former Michigan coach John Beilein made a pitch to May during an interview, at which point it was clear he was still available. Whatever they did or said sold the coach on Michigan as his next stop.
May and his team were eliminated from the tournament in a 77-65 overtime loss to the Wildcats, at which point he said he wasn’t sure what would be next.
“No idea,” May said when asked about his future. “All intentions now have been with this team, with this group. As we see though college basketball is very fluid. … No idea what’s next for anybody in our locker room. I love it at FAU, I love coaching these guys and that’s it.”
May coached the Owls for five years. FAU had a 35-4 overall record, finished first in Conference USA, and made it to the Final Four last year. This season, the Owls ended their season with a 25-9 overall record … May has gone 126-69 overall, a 64.6 win percentage.
Per the Palm Beach Post, May’s salary increased to $1.25 million per year with a 5% raise each season until 2033. The Columbus Dispatch reported his buyout dropped to $1 million on Feb. 29 when he was considered a target at Ohio State to replace Chris Holtmann, who was fired on Feb. 14 and is now taking over as the head coach at DePaul. Instead, the Buckeyes promoted interim head coach Jake Diebler to the full-time job.
May started as a student manager at Indiana under the late Bob Knight before he began his coaching career Eastern Michigan, with later stints at Murray State and UAB. He moved on to Louisiana Tech in 2009, where he stayed until 2015. That’s when Florida Atlantic came calling as he joined Michael Curry’s staff. After FAU fired Curry, May moved up to the head coaching job. He led the Owls to a during 19-15 record in 2021-22, including an 11-7 mark in league action, and berth in the CBI. A year later, he and his team made the Final Four, and he became a household name to college basketball fans.
Watch for more details in the hours to come …
